David Raya (and his massive hands) secured a third consecutive Golden Glove in the most dramatic of circumstances at the London Stadium, producing crucial saves in either half before his clean sheet was ultimately preserved by the most talked about VAR intervention of the season.
The Spaniard reacted sharply to palm away Taty Castellanos’ diving header before the break, then held his nerve midway through the second half, standing tall to deny Mateus Fernandes one-on-one after the Portuguese midfielder had burst clean through on goal.
Those interventions became even more important when Leandro Trossard struck with seven minutes remaining, a goal that ultimately secured three precious points and left Arsenal two games away from a first league title since 2004.
Raya has been ever-present in the Premier League this season, keeping 18 clean sheets in 36 appearances. In doing so, he has claimed the Golden Glove for a third straight campaign, becoming only the fourth goalkeeper since 1992 to achieve that feat after Pepe Reina (Liverpool, 2006-2008), Joe Hart (Manchester City, 2011-2013) and Ederson (Manchester City, 2020-2022).
He has also kept nine clean sheets in the Champions League, form that has played a major role in taking Arsenal to the final in Budapest.
After the win over West Ham, Mikel Arteta highlighted the significance of Raya’s save from Fernandes.
“The story of the season again,” he told his post-game press conference.
“When you talk about magic moments, this is certainly one of the most needed moments, as well to pull off with that save. He was incredible.”
Whatever happens in the final three matches of the campaign, Raya’s consistency and composure have already ensured this has been a remarkable personal season, one that should see him firmly in contention for a number of individual honours.